TCF Bank 2015 Annual Report Download - page 6

Our strong origination, loan sale and securitization capabilities
also give us flexibility to control our balance sheet growth to
respond to changing economic conditions. In 2015, loan and
lease balances would have grown by 23 percent had we de-
cided to keep all originations on the balance sheet. Clearly, this
level of growth is not desirable, but it highlights the fact that
we can manage our growth through our own actions.
Growing profitably also requires us to be mindful of risks
in the marketplace. With many banks recently announcing
plans to reduce growth in auto finance, we continue to
use our expertise in the market, make investments in
infrastructure and maintain consistent underwriting to
drive responsible and profitable growth. On the other hand,
despite many opportunities, we have made the conscious
decision to avoid more volatile markets such as energy-
related lending.
Operating Leverage
One of the key priorities for 2016, and a critical driver to
our long term success, is increasing our operating leverage.
We have built a unique business model that generates
strong revenue and provides an expanded and diversified
origination capability. This strategy results in higher expenses
because 84 percent of our total assets are comprised of
loans and leases while our business model focuses on small
transaction sizes. We also see added expenses as a result of
our large servicing and operating lease portfolios. However,
these expenses are more than offset by the revenue they
generate. As a result, the nature of our business will continue
to lead to elevated expenses compared to our peers.
I believe there are many areas across the organization where
we can optimize our spending to increase operating leverage.
It begins with consistent and stable revenue growth across
all of our businesses. I am proud of our track record in this
area. Second, we need to grow the asset base while reducing
the rate at which expenses are increasing. Efficient expense
management starts with looking at our spending holistically
across the company to identify redundancy and streamline
our processes by adopting best practices.
One of the tenets of our “One TCF” rallying cry is to promote
shared ownership in driving efficiency and common practices.
In early 2015, we took an important step forward with the
addition of an enterprise chief information officer who is
charged with aligning our information technology resources
across the company. As our businesses have matured and
the opportunities for synergies in areas such as technology
have strengthened, we have a laser focus on driving efficiency
across the business. I am optimistic we will quickly see the
benefits of these initiatives.
Our individual business units have also shown their commit-
ment to improving effeciencies within the organization. In early
2016, we announced plans to close 33 in-store branches in
the Chicago market and replace them with ATMs that feature
advanced transaction capabilities. These changes are expected
to be completed in May 2016.
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LEADERSHIP CONTINUITY
From left: Thomas J. Butterfield, chief information officer; Thomas F. Jasper, chief operating officer; Gloria J. Charley, director of talent management;
Michael S. Jones, executive vice president of consumer banking; Craig R. Dahl, chief executive officer; William S. Henak, executive vice president of wholesale
banking; Barbara E. Shaw, director of corporate human resources; Mark A Bagley, chief credit officer; Brian W. Maass, chief financial officer;
James M. Costa, chief risk officer and Tamara K. Schuette, corporate controller.